2 Female Cats- One fixed, one not, fixed one peeing outside box

Hey! I just found this forum and I hope you all can give me some much needed advice. I have two female and one male cats. All are fixed except for one female. We got the cats about 4 years ago and got them about 1 months apart (got 1st on in September, next in Oct and final one in November). The last one (female) we havent gotten fixed yet. We got the male fixed right away so we wouldnt have to worry about kittens. About 6 months after getting the cats, the one fixed female started peeing on things (bed, clothes and towels on floor, even on the carpets in certain corners). It has become worse and worse, so bad that now when I leave a towel on the floor while I am in the shower, by the time I'm out, she will have peed on it. Anyways, we are getting ready to move into our 1st home (buying our 1st house) and I would really like for this to stop. I dont think she has a UTI or anything like that since she doesnt whine and doesnt seem like she is in pain. An idea came into my head so I looked online to check it out and couldnt find anything talking about it so I thought I would ask here. I have caught my female cat that ISNT fixed spraying every once in a while but have never witnessed her doing it around the litter box but I guess it could be possible. Do you think my cat that is peeing could be intimidated by my not fixed female's scent that might be in the catbox? And maybe she is just peeing places and trying to claim her space in other areas? We have two big litter boxes in one room and their food is in a totally different room. Also, the cat that is peeing is the shyer one and sometimes withdrawn, especially when there are loud noises or people around she doesnt know. I hope I have given enough info, please ask if you need more.

HELP! We need help! I want a cat pee free new home!!! It's the grossest smell and never goes away!

I'd put another litterbox in a separate room too. Some kitties prefer not to share and if the current boxes are too close together one kitty might not like it. A general rule of thumb is one box per cat, plus one extra.

Is she going #2 in the box?

A vet check is definitely in order. Sometimes the only obvious signs of a UTI are excessive peeing. Not a lot in one spot, just little piddles because the urges come sooner than when the bladder is full.

Ditto to what everyone here has said. A trip to the vet is in order to rule out any medical problems like UTI. Rule of thumb - one litterbox per cat.

You need to get the last cat spayed before she goes into heat.

Question: Have you changed the cat litter lately? Cats don't like change. I know Bad A$$ Buddy will pee in the bathroom (tile floor thank goodness) on the floor next to the box (I have a plastic dish tray under to catch litter) if his box is not to his liking (I have 5 cats and they all seem to gravitate to the bathroom box, even though I keep 3 Rubbermaid tubs as litterboxes in another room). I know it's a hint that he's not happy with it. This morning he peed in the box I had cans of Fancy Feast in cuz the bathroom box was reduced to sawdust (I use Feline Pine).

Rest In Peace Casey (Bubba Dude) Your paw print will remain on my heart forever. 12/02
Mollie Rose, you were there for me through good times and in bad, from the beginning.Your passing will leave a hole in my heart.We will be together "One Fine Day". 1994-2009
MooShoo,you left me too soon.I wasn't ready.Know that you were my soulmate and have left me broken hearted.I loved you like no other. 1999 - 2010See you again "ONE FINE DAY"
Maya Linn, my heart is broken. The day your beautiful blue eyes went blind was the worst day of my life.I only wish I could've done something.I'll miss your "premium" purr and our little "conversations". 1997-2013 See you again "ONE FINE DAY"

This has been happening since about 6 months after getting them (I am thinkin around the same time that the female thats not fixed started going into heat) It has become worse though, we used to only have to worry about her peeing on big piles of dirty clothes and our bed but now its everything that we leave on the floor (she even pees on the dirty clothes hamper). We havent changed the litter lately. We use the cheap Special Kitty kind from Walmart only because we have 3 cats and go through so much. We are seriously considering changing to Fresh Step though.

I know the vet is expensive and so we have been trying to think of other remedies to fix the problem. But I am pretty much out of ideas. And if it is truly a UTI, I definitely dont want her to suffer. It just doesnt seem like she is suffering (right now as I type this, she is kneading me and crawling on my lap purring happily!).

We bought feliway about two weeks ago but after a week of it not really doing anything, we unplugged it. Also, we bought some Natures Miracle to put on the spots she has peed on the carpet and we have covered them up in hopes of her not peeing there anymore.

I have some pics of them that I will try and figure out how to post on here!

You have had the cats for 4 years - is that correct? And this problem started 6 months after you got them - is that correct?

So this problem has existed for 3 1/2 years, if my math is correct.

Why did you wait so long to find a solution?

I also recommend you get all of them to the Vet as soon as possible. Get that female fixed - that alone might solve the problem. However, since this has been going on so long, it's probably just second nature to them now.

Well the other female that is peeing wasnt always fixed so we tried getting her fixed hoping that would eliminate the problem. She goes for a few months and doesnt do it, then will start peeing again. Its very strange... just lately though it has become more of an issue (within the last 4-6 months). So we have been really trying to find out what the real issue is.

I really hope it's not "second nature to them" now... seems like there should be something we can do. I will definitely get them to the vet for some checkups. The male cat is a little overweight too so we probably need to get him on a special diet!

Originally Posted by Grace

You have had the cats for 4 years - is that correct? And this problem started 6 months after you got them - is that correct?

So this problem has existed for 3 1/2 years, if my math is correct.

Why did you wait so long to find a solution?

I also recommend you get all of them to the Vet as soon as possible. Get that female fixed - that alone might solve the problem. However, since this has been going on so long, it's probably just second nature to them now.

You need to get a black light, not the cheap one that comes with the Urine Gone. See if your vet has one you can borrow. Go around your house and shine the black line. Any urine stains will glow. Get Nature's Miracle or Nok-Out and spray the hell outta the stains. If the urine has sunk into any carpeting, you may have to pull up the carpeting and the padding. If you don't, they'll continue to pee.

I do hope you can get it under control. Please, PLEASE get your cat to the vet and rule out a UTI.

I used the spray Feliway for Buddy, who was having a peeing issue. It worked wonders. I've heard the diffuser isn't as powerful as the spray.

Rest In Peace Casey (Bubba Dude) Your paw print will remain on my heart forever. 12/02
Mollie Rose, you were there for me through good times and in bad, from the beginning.Your passing will leave a hole in my heart.We will be together "One Fine Day". 1994-2009
MooShoo,you left me too soon.I wasn't ready.Know that you were my soulmate and have left me broken hearted.I loved you like no other. 1999 - 2010See you again "ONE FINE DAY"
Maya Linn, my heart is broken. The day your beautiful blue eyes went blind was the worst day of my life.I only wish I could've done something.I'll miss your "premium" purr and our little "conversations". 1997-2013 See you again "ONE FINE DAY"

For checkups and shots, yes that is extra - but think what it can save you in extra and unexpected vet trips in the future. An ounce of prevention worth way more than a pound of cure where our furbabies are concerned. Borrow a bit from family if you need to. If you take them all in at once for checkups and shots, you MIGHT get a 'bulk rate'.

Rest In Peace Casey (Bubba Dude) Your paw print will remain on my heart forever. 12/02
Mollie Rose, you were there for me through good times and in bad, from the beginning.Your passing will leave a hole in my heart.We will be together "One Fine Day". 1994-2009
MooShoo,you left me too soon.I wasn't ready.Know that you were my soulmate and have left me broken hearted.I loved you like no other. 1999 - 2010See you again "ONE FINE DAY"
Maya Linn, my heart is broken. The day your beautiful blue eyes went blind was the worst day of my life.I only wish I could've done something.I'll miss your "premium" purr and our little "conversations". 1997-2013 See you again "ONE FINE DAY"

You DEFINATLY need to see a vet to make sure it's not a medical problem.

After medical problems have been ruled out, then try the solutions from this website.http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm The only thing I HIGHLY dissagree with is using a bleach solution for cleaning the box down with, I use the Nature's Miracle with great results.

The longer a problem goes on the more likely it is to become a habit and the harder it is to get them to stop.

I've had problems with peeing since my oldest cat passed away in '07. I did everything, more litterboxes, different litterboxes, different litter, and TONS of urinalysis tests on all 7 of the cats.

6 of the cats have problems with urinary crystals and occasional infections, the solution has been to put those cats on Hills C/D food, and do a urinalysis occasionally to check for infections, and treat with antibiotics those with infections.

The peeing slowed down but didn't stop. I mean I had pee on my fridge, my stove, my counters, my microwave, the walls, two sections of my sectional were trashed.

This all despite cleaning the litterboxes 5-6 times a day, and constantly putting cats in the box anytime they sniffed anything, and using generous amounts of Nature's Miracle. I was having panic attacks over it and had to take tranquilizers.

When I finally reached the point I could do nothing else I took my most suspected pee-er to work with me (Cami) and she had to live in a cage for 2 weeks.

Aside from finding some old pee spots we went those whole 2 weeks with no pee! That verified that she was my only active pee-er. And she used her box in her cage 100% of the time.

I brought Cami home after 2 weeks and put her in my spare room to see if having her noises and scent in the house would cause any peeing, or if her smelling/hearing the other cats would cause peeing.

So far it's been about 6 weeks and no pee outside the litterbox (despite Sassy having a UTI that we had to treat).

I hate having Cami shut up in a separate room, she's so lonely not being out in the main house where the activity is, but apparently she just plain doesn't get along with the male cats, particularly Bear.

I tried letting her out once and following her around constantly. It lasted about 20 minutes. The whole time she went from one spot to another that had been peed on in the past to sniff. In one area I stopped her from spraying (or at least it looked like she was going to.) The entire time she was out, Bear followed (rather stalked) her and she did not purr or seem happy until I put her back in her room again, at which point she started purring and being lovey again.

Sometimes certain cats just plain don't get along no matter what you do.